Vending machine



' Jan. 2, 1945. w. A. HARRIS VENDING MACHINE v Filed. May 20. 1945 :5 Sheets-Sheet 1' Zhwentor. I M/Mm jlnclm wfla 1115 Gttomeg Jan. 2, 1945. w, A HARRIS VENDING MACHINE Filed May 20, 1943 s Sheets-Sheet? L 5 3nventor. 5 am find raw #01 m s Jan. 2, 1945. A HAR ls 2,366,399

VENDING MACHINE Filed Ma 20, 1945 s Sheets-Sheet s Zmventor Z9 5 I dmflm rewynrris (Ittorneg Patented Jan. 2, 1945 VENDING MACHINE William AndrewHarris, Greenville, S. 0., assignor to William D. Young, Greenville, C.

Aplilication' May 20,1943, Serial o." 4872119" Claims; (01. 312.4

This invention relates to a vending machine and more especially to avending machine which" is compact in size and which will hold a maximum number of articles Within the minimum amount of space, and thus will permit the vending'ma- I chine to be installed in'small places wherea minimum of room is available, such as on airliners, railway passenger cars, andin fact, in any place where it is desired to have a maximum stock of supplies for sale housed within a minimum amount'of space. i

It is an object of this invention to provide a vending machine having a rotary circular mega:- zine divided into a plurality of compartments disposed on chords of the circular magazine with means for delivering one article at a time "from a compartment until the articles within the compartment are exhausted, together with means for automatically shifting themagazine where an other compartment will register with a delivery opening to deliver an article upon the insertion; of a coin by moving the magazine to rotate the magazine to thereby move the empty compartment from registering position and tomove'the next compartment to registering position to de-,,

liver an object to the customer; i I W It is another object of this invention toprovide a vending machine having a rotary magazinewith. a plurality of compartments in saidlmagazine for" housing a plurality of objects for sale together with means controlled by an inserted coin and also controlled by an article to be sold for controlling the movements of the magazine. ,7 i v Itis still another object of this invention to.- provide a coin-controlled vending machine hav ing a magazine provided with a plurality of come partments together with means adapted to engage the magazine when one of'the compartments is empty to move the magazine to a new position for the delivery of an article of merchandise-from a new compartment, 1

Some of the objects of the invention havingbeen stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a front elevation of my chine; I

Figure 2 is a detail elevation view looking from the line 2-2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a viewsimilar to Figure'l, but show ing the front cover for the magazine removed and also showing the front cover for thelower part of the machine removed;

Figure l -is a. view similar to Figure93, but show-* vending m-ashowing'thecoin chutein section Figure 5 is I vertical sectio theIineE -J'in'Figure 1;;

Figure 6' is ar'i lenlarged verti taken along the line BB in Figure 31 Referring more specifically to the drawings the numeral IO' denotes lth'eibase'piecel andfll indicate'sjthe back piece; and I2 an I3 frespectiv ily indieate 'the side walls'jo'f the lowerv portion of the machineI The enasjor 'the siile walls [2 and 13 are turned" outwardly as at and I5, and secured to tl'iesel'outwardly turned portions l4 and l5'is a circular casing lfi'. Thecircular casing is secured 'ovr the'p'erimeter of the'upper circular portion of the 'bacl; piece ll. 'Fi'iedly mounted inthe back piece 'I l is a shaft 20 which has associated therewith a "support 2 l secured to the back piece I l;- Ontheslfiaft 20; there is rotatably-'m'ounted a magazine carrying circular 'disc 22. Secured to the front face or the circular disc 22 are a plurality of spaced parallel vanes 23, these vanes having laterally projecting ledges 24' extending therefrom topartially restrict the front ends of the compartments 25 are closed "by' the circular casing Hi. The front edges ofithe vanes 23 may'have secured thereto,"if' desired, a plate v '28,'as 'shown' Figur'ef3, or this' plate may be dispensed with, if desired, 'and'asuitable bearing block 33' may 'bedisposed between the two c'en'- tral 'vanes'ior'rotatably supporting'the outer end of the magazine on the shaft 20, A suitable collar 34' issecured'on the outer'end of the shaft 20 to loosely confine the magazine "on'th e' shaft 2!] for rotation; The circular'casing lli'i s cutaway from the points '35'and'36 in F'igure l to allow room for theoper'at'ing "mechanism such as "the" "levers of 'thevendi'ng mechanism which willbe' presently describedj The restricted'portions of the casing project inwardly towards"each' other and are turneddownwardly as'at 3Tand'38; thus providingan opening between the down-turned lips 31 and '3 8 for the passage of: articles of n:'1erchar'id'is'efrom the magazine when one I of the compartments 25 is inregistered'position wh the opening be} tween the lips3'l'and 38.

Secured to the front surface or "the va'n'es13 i is an arcuate member lll'havin'g apiuramy'o'r pins' I'the'rein, by means of which theopera'ting mechanism upon'insrtionof a oin'ngages'tnese" 1 new itak n g cal seeeqear e ing turned beyond a given point when it is shifted to present a new compartment to vending posi-"' tion.

- A suitable cover for the magazine is provided,

comprising an annular member 50 which'ha's ba'y'j onet slots I therein which are adapted to engage pins 52 and 53 projecting from the outer periphery of the housing I6. A suitable hasp 54 is pivot ally mounted in lug 55, and this hasp is adapted to 'fit over an eyelet or, staple member, 56 so that a suitable lock can be inserted in stapleoreyele't 56 to lock the cover in position to prevent unauthorized removal of the-goods from the maga zine. The annular member is adapted .to support a pane of glass or other transparent ma- I terial indicated by reference character 51.. The upper portion of this pane of glass down to dotted lines 58 has the rear surface thereof provided with a coatingof silverto thus provide a mirror while the lower portion thereof below the dotted lines 58 in Figure 1 is transparent so that the goods can be observed through the glass.

the lower housing I2 are cut away from points 35 to 36 thus providing "a slot 60 as shown in.

Figure 5 for thus allowing freedom of operation of the mechanism disposed within housing I2.

The lower housing formed from side walls .I2

and I3 and the base I0 has a'suitable cover disposed thereover which issecured to the side walls I2 and I3 in any suitable manner Such, as 1 by screws, not. shown, and this front cover has a coin slot 66 through which a coincan be inserted to pass into the coin slot mechanism dis posed within the housing,an d whichwillbe.

presently described. The front cover. 65 also has an opening IiIv through which the goods are de.-.t. livered to the customer and an outstanding and downwardly sloping bracket 68 is secured on the exterior of the cover 65, which has an upturned lip 69 at its outer end and spaced sufficiently from the cover to allow the article to come..par-- tially through the opening 61 and toengagethe projection 69 so as to. hold the objectdelivered in.

position for the operator to remove it.

Secured on the uppersurface. of base I0-is a U-shaped bracket I0 having upstanding legs .II,

and 12. Rotatably mounted in the upper ends/of legs II and "is a shaft 73. This shaft has .han-i. dle I4 secured on the end thereof which projects through the cover 65. The shaft 'I3has collars,

I6 and I1 fixedly secured thereon, and secured to the collar TI is a downwardly depending arm.. I8 which is adapted to engage, a leaf spring..80,-

The annular member 50. as well as the portions of the housing I6 which appear at the upper end of 1 secured to the upper surface of base I0; This leaf member has securedbetween the legsthereof a horizontal portion ,81 and immediately below the. portion 81 is anotherhorizontal member.8,8 which. extends from leg 03 to,1e .841f,or.a purposervhlch.

will be presently described. Projecting upwardly from the left-hand edge of the horizontal portion 81 is a portion which has integral with the upper end thereof an arcuate platform 9| which has slots 92 and 93 therein. Fixedly secured on the outer surfaces of the legs 83 and 84 are the upstanding bars 95 and 96. Pivotally secured as at I00 to each of the bars 95 and 96 are members I (II which have a weight I02 mounted on one end thereof, at least one of. these weights having pins I03 and I04 for limiting the swinging movement of the Weights and the mechanism associated therewith. The left-hand end of these members IOI have secured thereto the upstanding legs I05 and I06 of U-shaped member I01.

'* This U-shaped member has rising from the portion I0'I upstanding supports I08 and I09, onto which thepackages 26 are adapted to fall one at a time as they leave the magazine in the course of"their travel to delivery position. Pivotally mo unted as at l [2 near; the upper end of the bar column of merchandise to vending positionwhen the column of merchandise in any one of the compartments 25 becomes exhausted. Pivotally, secured as at, I20 is a .li'nk l 2 Iv which is; pivotally secured as at I22 to member IllI nearest the ob-,

server or onthe front side of the machine. This coordinates the operation of the magazine ad?- vancing mechanism along with the control .ofthea same by the presence, of a package in vending.

position.

Rising from the base piece I0 is a bracket I30. which ha's mountedontheupper end thereof a cross piece. I3I and to this cross piece I3I-,.leaf,.

springs. I 32 and I33 are secured and project .rearwardly. beneath the transverse member 88 disposed belowth e horizontalportion 81, and the.

horizontal mernber. .81 until the. mechanismhas movedto the position shown in Figure 3, at which; time the'l re'lar edgeer. -the cross-member 88, or iltheright-hand edgelof s me, as shown in Figure; 4 ridesJup the inclined portionslof. these leaf springjfrnembe'r'sf and depressesgsame 'as. shown .in Figure "3 "to allow. the v article (if-merchandise to fall by gravity'iinto. aslopin'gftrough I40, This 'u'troughj isfs'upportedby. a block 'I 4I at. one end," andhas an upturnedlip I42 at its rear end, which". is secured to the'rear'fwall member II asat.|43 This sloped trough. allows an article of merchari-., disc. 12s tojsndej by, gravity, outwardl partially through the opening 61;. and onto the bracket 68,; ready to be picked up by the purchaser; Secured, on upstanding leg II is. an arm I50 and on the upper'end of th'is 'arm as at I5I is povotally mounted a lever I52. This-lever is a dapted 'to wrest normall'yon a pin I53 on member 95 and. the left-hand'end of the lever I52,-as show nin Figurerl, has a" disc member I 54 secured thereon.

shown in Fi'gur' 3; In this position, the'l end of lever I52 is disposedfwi'tliin tl'ie ,1 i the coin a'sdt falls down-the chute, andin the absence of a coin, locks the mechanism against delivery of goods. The member 95 also has a pin I56 which limits the upward travel of the righthand end of lever I52. Pins I56 and I! are provided in back wall I I to limit movement of inverted U-shaped member 85.

The coin chute comprises a plate I60 suitably secured to the side wall I3, and this supports the plate I6I which has inturned flanges I62 to assist the plate I$I in guiding the coins downwardly in the chute. There is an opening I63 provided in the plate IBI, and the coin after being inserted through the opening 66 in the outer casing then is directed downwardly and inwardly through opening I63 and is then allowed to fall downwardly through the chute. There is a very weak leaf spring I65 secured on the outer surface of wall I6I, and this projects through a slot I66 and across the path traveled by the coin. If the coin is of lighter weight than that specified for operation of the machine, the spring I65 will not be flexed sufficiently to allow the coin to continue its downward travel in the chute and will be knocked outwardly to the left in Figure 6, and

therefore will never reach the left-hand end of V i If it lever I52 in Figure 4 to depress the same. is a coin of proper weight, it .will knock the spring I65 out of its Way and will continue downwardly and fall onto the free end of lever I52, and disc I54 will prevent its lateral discharge, and in this position, the coin will be held to raise the righthand end of lever I52 in Figure 3, and then as the crank is rotated, the pin I53 riding along the lower side of lever I52, will raise the right-hand end of the same upwardly to a greater degree, and thus lower and withdraw the left-hand end of the lever I52 to a point where the coin will be released to drop into a coin box I70.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The front cover 57 of the magazine will be removed, and the articles of merchandise will be placed into the various compartments 25 through the openings at the upper portions of these compartments Where no ledges are present. The articles of merchandise will fall downwardly and will rest against the inside periphery of the circular casing I6. The first article inserted in the first compartment of the left-hand compartment in Figure 3 will fall on downwardly through the opening appearing between the lips 31 and 38, and will rest on the members I08 and I09. This will depress these members, and also will depress the lever I I3 to where it will, be free and disposed below the adjacent pin 4|, and thus will not rotate the magazine. The machine is now ready for operation. When a coin is dropped into the coin slot, the lever I52 is rotated slightly in a counterclockwise manner, but the lever Will not be rotated sufliciently to allow the coin to drop into the coin box. In this position, when pin I53 is free to rotate on account of shoulder I55 being moved upwardly, and the left-hand end I I5 of lever H3 being in lowered position, the purchaser will seize the handle or crank 14 and rotate it in a counterclockwise manner. This-will cause the arcuate platform 9I to move to the position shown in Figure 4, and the first article of merchandise 26 held against rearward movement by lip 38 will fall downwardly onto the portion 81 as shown in Figure 4. This rotation of the handle will further rotate the lever I52 to withdraw its left-hand end from the path of the coin, and from a supporting position for the coin, and will allow the coin to fall into the cash box I10. When the handle is released, the spring 80 will causethe parts to return to the position shown in Figure 3, and the article of merchandise will fall off of the horizontal portion .81 into trough I40 and be delivered through opening 61. As the parts move from the position shown in Figure 4 to the position shown in Figure 3, the pointed ends of the members I08 and I09 will ride between the lowermost article of merchandise to be delivered and the one appearing next above and the second from the bottom article of merchandise as shown in Figure 4 will then rest on the members I08 and I09, and they will be in a depressed position flush with the upper surface of'the arcuate platform 9|. In this position, the left-hand end II5 of lever II3 will be in lowered position such as shown in Figure 4, and the machine will be ready for another customer.

When a coin is dropped into the machine and the compartment registering with the delivery openin is exhausted of merchandise, and there is no merchandise appearing on the members I08 and I 09, these members I08 and I09 will be in elevated position due to the action of the weights I02, and thus the shoulder I I6 will be resting as shown in Figure 3, and when a coin is dropped into the machine, and the crank is given a counterclockwise rotation, the shoulder II6 will engage a pin 4I immediately in front of it, and will rotate the magazine to where the lower end of the next compartment will register with the delivery opening, and a package will fall onto the members I08 and I09 and thus release the shoulder II 6 from further operation of the magazine until the compartment in registered position has become exhausted. When all of the articles of merchandise in the registering compartment have been sold, the machine will be automatically moved as above described to present the next compartment in registering position, and this will continue until all of the articles of merchandise from all of the compartments have been sold. The left-hand pin M will then be resting against the stop 43. In initial position, as shown in Figure 3, when the machine is full of merchandise and none have been sold therefrom, the righthand pin M will be against stop 42, thus the stops 42 and 43 form the outer limits of rotation of the magazine in either direction.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in ageneric and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the

scope of the invention beingdefined in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a vending machine having a magazine and a casing surrounding the same, the magazine being movable within the casing and having a plurality of open ended compartments therein, said casing having an opening in the lower ,end thereof through which an article of merchandise is adapted to pass from a registering compartment, a mechanism housing disposed below the magazine casing and supporting the same, delivery mechanism mounted within said housing and comprising .an oscillatable member having upper and lower offset platforms, spring means normally holding the delivery mechanism in a position whereby the upper portion will be disposed below the delivery opening, said magazine having projections thereon, the delivery mechanism having swingable means adapted to engage the projections and move the magazine to cause a succeeding compartment to register with the opening, the upper portion of the delivery mechanism having pivoted means adapted to be de pressed by the weight of anarticle disposed on the said upper portion for holding the swingable means on the delivery mechanism out of the path of the projections on the magazine, whereby when all of the articles have been exhausted from a given compartment, and no article is present on the upper portion, the swingable means on the delivery mechanism will engage one of the projections on the magazineand move it one step to cause the next compartment to register with its delivery opening, means for swinging the delivery mechanism cooperating with means restraining lateral movement of th lowermost article to cause an article supported on the upper portion to fall onto the lower portion,'and when the delivery mechanism is returnedto normal position to fall onto a trough leading to the exterior of the machine. j

2. In a vending machine having a circular movable magazine provided with a plurality of compartments disposed on chords of the circle of the magazine, the ends of the compartment bein open, a casing surrounding the magazine and preventing articles within the compartments from moving out. of the compartments, said casing having an opening in the lower portion thereof through which the articles from a compartment registering with the opening may fall downwardly, mechanism disposed below the opening for supporting a column of article'salined with a compartment registering with the opening, means for moving the magazine to cause a succeeding compartment to register with the openin in the casing. when all of the articles alined with a registering-compartment have become exhausted. means for controlling the movement of the magazine moving means, said controlling means being controlled by the presence or absence of the article in contact therewith.

3. In a vending machine having a rotary circular magazine disposed on a horizontal axis for holding articles of merchandise, a casing surrounding the magazine and having an opening in its lower portion, said magazine being provided with a plurality of compartments open at both ends and disposed on chords of the circle of the magazine, coin-controlled delivery mechanism for delivering the articles one at a time from the opening to an outlet, means on the delivery mechanism for engaging the magazine, and moving it one step to present the lower end of another compartment in registry with the delivery opening, the. last-named means being held in inoperative position by the weight of an article or articles in registry with a compartment and being. adapted to engage the magazine and move it to where a the magazine and having a deliver openin therein, the casing for the magazine having an opening establishing communication between the lower end of a compartment and the housing, an oscillatable delivery mechanism disposed in the housing and having upper and lower offset plat forms,the lower platform being disposed a substantial distance below and to one side of the upper platform and the upper platform being normally disposed below the delivery opening, so that articles in a compartment of the magazine registering the opening will move by gravity downwardly until the lowermost articles rest on the upper platform, means for imparting 0501113:- tion to the platforms to move the upper platform from beneath the delivery opening and to position the lower platform below the delivery opening,

for holding articles, said magazine having a plumeans for restraining lateral movement of the lowermost article, so that the articles in line with a compartment will move downwardly and be supported by the lower platform, spring means for returning the platforms to normal position to cause the upper platform to move above the lowermost article and below the next succeeding article and to expel the lowermost article from the lowermost platform through the delivery opening in the housing.

5. In a vending machine having a rotatable circular magazine disposed on a horizontal axis for holding articles, a casing surrounding the magazine, an open-topped housing disposed below the magazine and having a delivery opening therein, said casing having an opening establishing communication between the upper portion of the housing and the lower portion of the casing, said magazine having a plurality of compartments disposed on the chords of the circle of the magazine, each compartment being open at both ends and the lower end of a compartment being adapted to register with the opening in the lower part of the casing, a swin-gable deliver mechanism disposed in the housing and having upper and lower oifset platforms, spring means fornormally holding the delivery mechanism in a position where the upper platform will be disposed below the lower end of a compartment registering with the opening in the casing, means for swinging the delivery mechanism to move the upperplatform from beneath the lowermost article alined with a compartment, means for restraining lateral movement thereof and allowing the lowermost article to fall onto the lower platform of the swingable delivery mechanism, so that when the spring'means returns the swingable delivery mechanism to normal position, the upper plat form will be moved beneath the next to the lowermost article, and the lowermost article will fall by gravity ofi of the lower platform and through the delivery opening in the housing, means for engaging the magazine and moving it to where a succeeding compartment will register with the opening in the casing and means penetrating the upper platform and engageable by an article resting thereon for holding the means for moving the magazine in inoperative position.

WILLIAM ANDREW HARRIS. i 

